Government raised customs duty on a host of communication products, including wireless phones and smartwatches.
The second round of customs duty hike announced by the government in a little over a fortnight. comes as part of efforts to check a widening current account deficit by curbing imports. The increased duties would be effective from October 12, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBIC) said in a notification.
The import duty has also been hiked on certain inputs used in the communication industry like Printer Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA). Import duty on populated, loaded or stuffed printed circuit boards of all goods other than mobile phones, base station and optical transport equipment has been raised to 10 per cent.
The notification said that customs duty has also been raised to 20 per cent from 10 per cent for base stations and for machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus other than modems, voice frequency telegraphy, digital loop carrier systems and multiplexers.
The CBIC said the Central government was satisfied that the import duty leviable on goods falling under Chapter 85 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, should be increased and that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action. Chapter 85 deals with electrical machinery and equipment, sound recorders, television image recorders and their parts.
Post Your Comments